Looking Dapper!

My Texas foster mom got me this nice-looking sweater to wear in the cool Virginia weather!  I think I look pretty good!

Please keep me in your thoughts this Friday, the 6th of May. I will have my first shot that will start the process to kill the adult heartworms.  I am strong and I am ready!

Relaxing

My body is busy chasing away heartworm babies right now, and I need my rest.  Luckily, there is an assortment of dog beds in my foster home.  I like all of them!  Here I am on the orthopedic mattress dog bed. I can really stretch out!  And look how cute I am with my tongue peeking out just a bit.

I am doing well, and am looking forward to Day 60 of my heartworm treatment, which will be in early May.  That step involves the first shot that will begin to kill the adult heartworms.  I will be needing lots of positive thoughts and prayers!  

In the meantime, I am resting - but also enjoying the spring weather, the other dogs and cat in my foster home, and my foster parents!

The Sofa!

This is the first picture my foster mom took of me, soon after I arrived in Virginia.  I am settled into the sofa.  My foster mom says I am still getting used to being a sofa dog.  I can take a short nap on the sofa but, when I wake up, I need a little space, so I get off and find a dog bed.  

But she keeps putting me on the sofa with her, and I am staying longer each time.  I stay the longest when she rubs my head and my back.  :)

I am doing well!  Day 39 today of my heartworm treatment.

Thanks for checking in!  I will post again soon, so please stop by!

On the Transport!

Many people don't know about "transports."  When rescue folks talk about transports, they are usually talking about getting a dog from Point A to Point B using volunteer drivers. Good-hearted individuals who love dogs sign up by email to drive a "leg" (each leg is about an hour of driving) to help a dog get where he or she needs to go.  

So, BDRA set up a transport to get me from Houston, Texas to Fairfield, Virginia.  They shared information about my transport on Facebook and by email, and asked for volunteers. And about 20 people signed up, each offering to drive a leg, and they got me halfway across the country!  One person signed up to have me stay over at her house Saturday night, at the halfway point.  It is so nice of everyone to help!!!

So I left my wonderful temporary foster home in Texas on a Saturday morning and got into a car and rode for about an hour.  Then I had a ten minute break to stretch my legs while my stuff was moved from the first car into the second car.  And then I was put in the second car, and off I went on the second leg, heading toward Virginia. And so on, leg after leg after leg. And Sunday night I was at my Virginia foster home!

Sometimes, in some cars, I would be in a crate (see my picture above) and sometimes I would be in the back seat, fastened in. I am pretty good in a car, so I did all right, but I have to tell you I wondered where I was going and if I was going to spend the rest of my life going from car to car to car!!

Without volunteer drivers, dogs like me would not be saved. I would have been stuck in Texas, and likely euthanized.  Transports get shelter dogs to foster homes, and foster dogs to forever homes.  Every weekend, there are dogs going up and down the interstate near you!  If you have never driven a leg, sign up when a transport comes near you!

And I am doing well!  I am on Day 31 of my heartworm treatment.  More on all that soon! Thanks for checking in.

Wrangler George in Texas!

Here are some pictures of me when I was in my FABULOUS foster home in Texas!  Back in Texas, my name was George.  Because there has already been a foster dog in the Blind Dog Rescue named George, my name was changed to Wrangler (this helps with the Blind Dog Rescue record keeping - to try to use a name only once).  But, when these pictures were taken, I was George.  I can't hear very well, so I am good with whatever you call me!  :)

And look how happy I am in these pictures!  By this time, I had been cleaned up and groomed. My worms were gone (intestinal worms - I still had the heartworms) and I was being treated for kennel cough.  I had a little lump on my eye removed, and was taking eye and ear medicine.  I really needed a lot of medical care when I was sprung from the shelter!  

And my Texas foster mom, Nicki, took such good care of me.  She even stayed up at night with me through the worst of my kennel cough.  Once the kennel cough was over, she packed me up with all my stuff, and sent me on a two day transport to my Virginia foster home. 

I miss Nicki, and she will always have a special place in my heart for everything she did for me.

And thanks for reading my blog!  Please keep checking in as I will be posting blog updates just about every week. Next Friday I go into the vet for the day for the next step in my heartworm treatment.

If you are interested, follow along on my heartworm journey!  Go to this link on the American Heartworm Society webpage: 

https://heartwormsociety.org/images/pdf/Canine-Guidelines-Summary.pdf

(if the link does not work for you, google the American Heartworm Society, and then go to Veterinary Resources, then Heartworm Guidelines, then Canine Guidelines Summary, then scroll down to page 6 of the Summary). 

Next Friday is my "Day 30."  I am strong and in very good spirits, and am doing well so far!